Beacon's Hidden Creed
by gajeel-of-iron
Summary: Beacon. A prestigious combat school to train huntsmen and huntresses, humanity's champions against the Grimm. But something else is taught in this school, something that teaches some of the students to work in the dark. UP FOR ADOPTION
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

A young figure moved through the streets of Vale, calmly making her way past the more welcoming shops and moving further and further into the industrial district. The night was quickly turning chilly, so the hood the mysterious girl wore low over their face didn't seem too out of place. On her belt, a rose emblem rested in the center of a stylized "A", and a compacted weapon rested on the back of the same strap. Her cloak was white with red highlights, and the back of it went almost to her feet.

Once deep inside the maze of warehouses, the she slipped into an alley and ascended a ladder to the roof of a building, then scaled the transmitter's antenna structure, only stopping when she was able to see nearly a mile in every direction. Calmly she took a deep breath, and from under her hood, silver irises became tinted slightly blue, and in her mind, the world took on a new color scheme.

For the most part, the area dimmed to almost black, but three blocks away to the east, one warehouse was lit up from the inside, where almost thirty figures glowed red, like dark flames trapped in human form. A slight smile slid across the girl's face, pleased she had found her targets.

Swiftly returning to the street level, the girl pulled out her scroll and pressed a button three times. Moments later, the small ring she wore vibrated twice, confirmation her message was received. With that, she put her scroll back on her hip, and slipped through the alleys towards the warehouse containing the lit up figures she had spotted earlier.

Stopping a block away, she made a soft eagle call. A barely a minute passed before she heard a reply, this on like a falcon. Once more she called out like the eagle, and her ally appeared next to her, careful not to spook her in the process. Last time that happened, well, it wasn't pretty.

"What's the situation look like?" the new arrival whispered, deep blue eyes seeming to harden beneath the dark hood he, too had pulled low over his face. The highlights on his cloak were blue, and he carried a sword in a collapsible shield-sheath on his hip.

"There's thirty or so White Fang grunts in a warehouse a block to the east, looks like they were getting ready for an assembly or something." Came the soft reply.

"Great. Means they're probably going to do something soon." A thoughtful tone entered the young man's voice. "Either way, we should report back to Master. Did you see if their head honcho is in there?"

"No sign of him. Might be running late, but in that respect, so are we. We have a test tomorrow, remember?"

The boy groaned softly, resting his head against his palm. "Yeah, I know, Ruby, I know. Not happy about it, but I know."

"C'mon, Jaune. You need your sleep if you want a prayer of passing Professor Port's class, and it's almost midnight." Ruby smirked at her friend from under her hood.

Jaune muttered something about boastful, Boarbatusk-headed teachers, before the two began slipping his way back down the alley.


	2. Chapter 2: the night begins

Beacon Academy. A combat school designed to train the next generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses who will protect humanity from the dangers of the Creatures of Grimm. This prestigious school, much like its name, shines out as a ray of hope, drawing in the light of humanity and sending it back out into the world.

But this school is more than it truly seems. Every student comes here to learn how to fight the Grimm. But some leave with the ability to fight more than just soulless incarnations of negativity. Those who come to Beacon with the true desire to protect their fellow man are sometimes recruited for a… special… curriculum. These students train to protect humanity not only from the Grimm, but from their fellow man as well.

These students are not only the next generation of huntsmen and huntresses, but the next generation of the Brotherhood of Assassins, as well. This ancient organization has forever been dedicated to protecting the free will of the masses from those who would take it from them, namely the Templars.

The Templars, who, in modern times operate under the guise of the Abstergo corporation, are those of the belief that humanities only road to peace lies with a singular power controlling everything, and they want it to be them. To accomplish their goals, they are searching for the Pieces of Eden, powerful relics from an age long past. These relics have the power to make people subservient to the wielder, and are extremely dangerous in the wrong hands.

But for the students of Beacon Academy, these matters are a long way from being theirs to deal with. For two young second-year teammates, the most pressing concern is their GPA.

"C'mon, Jaune, it's not that hard." The girl to his right said, "We covered this last year. AND it's multiple choice."

"Pyrrha, I've slept since last semester. How am I supposed to remember how many Grimm kills a certain long-dead huntsman had?!"

Pyrrha sighed and gently shook her head. "That's not the question. It's asking when he graduated the Atlas Academy."

"….. oh. Ok, then. All I understood was 'give me a number.'"

"SILLY JAUNE! YOU HAVE TO READ THE QUESTION FIRST!" A girl's loud voice shouted behind the study partners, causing them to nearly jump out of their skins.

" _Nora!_ Don't do that! You scared the living daylights out of us!" Pyrrha groaned

"I agree with Jaune, Nora. You shouldn't sneak up on people." The last member of team JNPR, Rin, announced, walking into their dorm. "it's not very nice, and it will impede their studying."

"oh, don't be such a goody-goody, Renny! I'm just joking around! Besides, Jaune looked like he was getting a headache, so I figured he needed a distraction." The pink-haired, trigger-happy girl announced.

"I would love a distraction, but you really didn't prevent a headache, Nora. You gave me an even worse one." Jaune muttered.

Across the hall in the dorm of Team RWBY, it was weapon maintenance day. Everyone had their weapons out, cleaning off dust residue, re-painting over nicks and scratches, sharpening blades, whatever needed doing.

By far the most nicked and scratched was Crescent Rose. It always was, which led to the rest of Team RWBY sometimes teasing Ruby about her incessant need to practice. Ruby didn't care, so long as there wasn't irreparable damage. The teasing sometimes got out of hand, though, as Yang was never very good about boundaries. Which led to the argument currently in progress, where Ruby was berating Yang for trying to "confiscate" her sweetheart.

"It was just a joke, sis! Geez, don't be so dramatic about it!" Yang said, taking a dismissive attitude as always.

"I don't care, you aren't allowed to mess with my weapons locker! We have already discussed this, and I really don't appreciate it!" Ruby's face was almost as red as her namesake, and even Blake and Weiss were starting to get a little nervous.

"Okay, Okay. I apologize. I shouldn't have messed with your locker, but you have to admit, you do need to take a break at some point in time." Yang relented, finishing with a concerned voice.

Ruby sighed, but before she could reply, Weiss cut in. "You have been working rather late in the night quite a bit lately, and we are starting to wonder where you run off to."

"I'm sometimes helping the professors with errands. Other times I'm helping the younger students with stuff." Ruby huffed, crossing her arms. Just then, her scroll buzzed, a ringtone the rest hadn't heard before. The short scythe wielder started a moment, before quickly checking her screen in such a way the rest couldn't see it. "That's Professor Oobleck, he wants to talk to me about something. Be back in a bit."

Before the rest of her team could say anything, she had grabbed her cloak off her bed, as well as her weapon, and darted out of the room, the usual rose flurry left behind her. Through the still open door, Blake saw Jaune dart out of the JNPR dorm room, Crocea Mors on his hip and his hoodie hood flapping behind him as he rushed off in the same direction, leaving an obviously confused Nora and Pyrrha staring out the door after him.

 **Hey, Y'all. Iron Dragon Slayer Gajeel here! Just a few things to round off the new chapter:**

 **I forgot this last time, but I OWN NOTHING. All rights go to their respective owners. All I did make is the plot.**

 **PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I want to know what people think, and I would also appreciate ideas to work with.**

 **I only started playing assassin's creed recently, so if I slip up on a fact, please let me know, I'll try to fix it. I want to avoid aggravating people too much, and I need you guys to help me with that.**

 **Thanks so much for reading my story! Gajeel out!**


	3. Chapter 3: discovery

As their leaders rushed out of the dorms, the remainders of teams RWBY and JNPR stared after them in utter confusion. For them to both receive a message that sent them running, and at the same time too? It was more than a little weird. Nora was the first to recover from the confusion.

"I wanna follow them. He's been acting weird, and I don't like it." The usually happy-go-lucky bomber was unusually calm and serious. That alone was enough to bring the other five to their senses, and a quick vote was cast. 4-2, follow their friends won. Only Ren and Blake didn't feel right going after them, both stating that they must have their reasons, but they were both curious as well, and so they agreed to go with the others.

So they grabbed their weapons, and hurried out the door. It turned out that early on in their first year, Jaune kept getting lost around the halls of Beacon, so Nora had slipped a tracking program onto his scroll without him knowing, so they could find him easier. Since it had never been taken off, she simply rebooted it and the group followed it all the way to… Professor Oobleck's office. Just as the two had said, they seemed to be helping a teacher. Disappointed for some unknown reason, the group turned to leave, before Weiss noticed something.

"it's quiet in there" she said, and the rest of the group realized she was right. The air was missing Oobleck's usual loud jabbering. In addition, a "quiet please" sign hung on the door, which was the signal that there was testing in progress. But testing was done for an entire class all at once, to prevent cheating, and no one would be given make-up exams, since Oobleck didn't believe in those.

Yangs' eyes narrowed, and she took a bold step to the door and opened it, which would have been a very troublesome spot to be in if there were truly test-takers on the other side of the door. But the room was, in fact, empty of life. Or so it seemed. Rubys' cloak and Jaunes hoodie were hung on the coat rack, a rather large give-away that there was something was up. Ruby never left that cloak anywhere.

With this realization, the group began a hard search of the room. The desks were completely normal. Ooblecks' desk was normal as well, somehow messy and organized at the same time. It wasn't until they checked the walls on an idea from Blake that the found it. Barely left open, there was a secret door that blended perfectly with the wall.

Carefully pulling the door open, the six teenage warriors slipped their way into the dark, curving stairwell. They descended for what seemed like forever, before they began to hear sounds. Metal clashing on metal, labored breathing, and multiple voices, obviously disguised by voice modifiers.

"2R, you should focus more. 3V, your identity must be hidden better at all times." A commanding voice was giving instructions, using code names for the people it was talking to. However, as they approached the bottom of the stairs, all noise from below stopped just before wherever it was came into view.

Pausing, the group looked around at each other, but then pushed forward, and found themselves in a large room, seemingly devoid of life, but filled with all types of training equipment, some of which none of them had ever seen the likes of before. There was the obvious work-out equipment, but then there were things like tall structures shaped like the buildings of Vale, training dummies shaped like humans (all the normal ones upstairs were shaped like a type of Grimm), and a single symbol appeared all over the place over and over. It was a very stylized "A", and in its center was a small crisscross pattern.

All this, they took in in a split second, before they were startled by a voice, this one un-modified, and very familiar. "And what are you all doing here?" Ozpin said, walking around the side of the building replica. He looked as he usually did, except for a small gauntlet on his wrist, which was emblazoned with the same recurring symbol. "More importantly, how did you find this place? None of you should have the key, or even knowledge of the key."

"We followed a secret tracker on Jaunes scroll, because we were concerned about him and Ruby." Weiss admitted right away, certain it would be best to tell the truth right away, since the usually impassive Professor Ozpin seemed a little annoyed.

Ozpin sighed, raised a hand and with a small beckoning motion to the top of the replica said "2J, please come here."

WBY and NPR then got the shock of their lives, as a hooded, white and blue cloaked figure stood up and, without even a moments' hesitation, spread his arms and leapt from the top of the replica, a full two stories up.

"…..!"

But just as he was about to hit the ground, the figure spun forward, tucking in their arms and legs, and landing on their back in a small pit at the foot of the structure, from which straw, of all things, flew up upon impact.

Quickly climbing out quickly, 2J made his way over to Ozpin, before kneeling and bowing his head to him, saying "Yes, master?" in a deep, modified voice.

"You may remove your hood, 2J, and go get your scroll." Ozpin said, and Jaune stood as he removed his hood and voice modifying mask, giving his friends a sheepish smile. Their reactions were more varied.

Weiss was still scanning the room, looking for Ruby, or anyone else.

Blake was looking up and down the tall building-like structure, wondering how in the world klutzy JAUNE of all people was able to jump off something like that without a single scratch afterwords.

Yang was a little peeved because there was such an awesome training ground that she hadn't known of.

Nora was looking everywhere, her expression like that of a young child in a candy store.

Pyrrha was staring after the retreating Jaune, her mouth hanging open, and a slight blush on her cheeks.

Ren was interested in the unusual gauntlet on Ozpin's arm.

"I suppose you already know she is here, so I's better call her out too." Ozpin sighed. "2R, please join us. All others, use the back door to return to the school section. Training masters, please join us as well."

In an instant, a white cloak with red highlights seemed to appear kneeling next to Ozpin, and Professors Port and Oobleck were close behind, voice masks over their faces, and cloaks on their shoulders, but their hoods were down, and they were removing their masks as they walked. The kneeling person, however remained kneeling, and didn't even look up until Oobleck said "Miss rose, you may uncloak and such, go greet your friends." In his usual caffeine induced manner.

Ruby's grin was very small and sheepish as Jaunes' had been just moments before. "Hey, sis. Hey guys."

"So this is where you'd been running off to, huh, sis? You were really worrying us there." Yang said, still looking a little annoyed about the hidden training room.

"She wasn't allowed to tell anyone. No one here other than the leaders are allowed to do that. We work in strict secrecy, as our enemies have eyes and ears everywhere." Port said. "We can't carelessly give out information about ourselves. It would end badly for not just us, but the whole school, too."

"OK, I get that." Weiss said, crossing her arms, "but can you tell US? You know we won't tell anybody, cause that would put our friends in danger."

Ozpin sighed, before gesturing to a small side room labeled **BRIEFING**. "I guess we have a lot to talk about, then. You all will learn quite a bit tonight."

 **Hey guys. Gajeel is BACK with another chapter for ya! the inspiration just seemed to come flowing into me these last few days, so here ya go! as usual, i own NOTHING.**


	4. Chapter 4: explainations and decisions

Once everybody was gathered in the underground briefing room, including Jaune, who had returned with his scroll and was having Nora take the tracker off of it, Ozpin began to explain. "This world is called Remnant for a reason. It is a literal remnant of a previous civilization, which is known to us as the Precursor civilization. The beings who inhabited those times were nearly godlike in comparison to us, wielding powers we could only imagine. They used these powers, along with ancient relics we call the Pieces of Eden, to use the entirety of humanity as slaves. However, this civilization was destroyed, and few humans or first civilization beings survived, but from there, our civilization was guided by the remaining beings to what we believe to be the beginning of our own civilization. But their relics remained, scattered throughout the world, which we now know as Remnant, the world of humans, Grimm, etc.

"And now for the reason we are here. You might be wondering who we are that requires such secrecy. But I'm going to tell you about our enemies first, so you are better able to understand when I explain who we are. I'm sure you all have heard of Abstergo Dust and Technology Corperation?"

At this, Weiss scoffed. "Of course we have. Those scoundrels may be large, and just because of that they think they can tell the Schnee's how we are supposed to do business. But they will always be second best to us."

"Very well. Yes, that's the Abstergo I was referring to. While they do work with dust, they specialize in other technologies. But that is just the face they show the public. In reality they are much more… sinister. They are the public face of the Templar Order, and ancient organization, much like us, but different in our core aspects. While they emphasize purpose, order and control, they want to control the freedom of individuals, restricting these freedoms, and we support the freedom of the individual, free will. We see free will and the growth of individuality as the beginnings of the progression to peace. Much like the great war, which was largely led by us and the Templars on opposite sides, these ideals have clashed many times throughout history. Our respective organizations are both very large, and very intricate. We both are spread throughout all of the kingdoms. Members of each order can be found in every governing body throughout the world."

"Professor?" Pyrrha hesitantly raised her hand, "I notice that you only refer to your group with abstract names. Like 'we' or 'us.' What are you called?"

Ozpin smiled thinly, then looked over at Ruby and Jaune. "2R, 2J, please recite the phrase you were taught the day you joined."

The two students stood with small grins, raising the hoods of their cloaks, before kneeling in front of Ozpin. "We work in the dark, to serve the light. We are Assassins."

"…."

The only response from WBY and NPR was a stunned silence. Their friends were being trained to kill PEOPLE? PROFESSIONALLY!? What the HELL was wrong with this school?

Finally, after almost a minute of silence, Ren found his voice, though it was a little shaky. "So when you say assassins, you mean…. What, exactly?"

"Just that." Ozpin replied. "the Assassins Order is an ancient organization dedicated to protecting the lower classes from the heavy handed Templars. While the Templars are often found among the leadership of the world, we operate to keep them in check. We are also working to prevent them from getting their hands on the Pieces of Eden I mentioned earlier, which they could use to gain power over people and, in some cases, bend many people to their will. So we also hunt the Pieces of Eden, so that we may lock them away from the people that would abuse them. But to do so, we often must take lives, whether to acquire the Pieces of Eden, or to protect the populace from a corrupt ruler, we do what we must. But it doesn't mean we are cold hearted, however. We value the sanctity of human life, and before we act we strive to understand what it truly means to take a life."

Silence returned to the group of students, and it was the still unusually calm Nora who spoke next. "What if we wanted to join you? What do we have to do for that?"

Yang shot to her feet. "Nora, you can't be serious! You would have to kill people! You seriously think you can do that?"

"I think it's because I don't want to kill anyone that I should join them." Nora's face was set and determined. "it means I would think carefully before I take a life."

"Ms. Valkyrie, that is exactly the answer I was looking for. As I said before we hold life in high regard, even the lives of our enemies. That is what separates us from being just plain murderers. I'm sure you all understand that, and I would not be against letting you join the Order. But first you must decide if you truly want to. Please take however long you feel you need to think this over. But I want you to promise me that you will take at least 24 hours to truly search your heart and see if you have what it takes. Just this once, Ruby and Jaune, I give you permission to talk to your friends about what you have seen and done here, in only as much detail as is needed."

"Yes, master." The two students acknowledged.

"Now, it is getting rather late, so I would like for you all to go to bed. You six may take tomorrow off if you wish so you may think this over, as it is a very big life decision."

"Thank you, professor. We'll think this over hard." Weiss said. The group was quiet as their team leaders led them back out of the underground training room, exchanging their cloaks for their normal cloak and hoodie, and then returned to their dorms.

Much of the night in both dorms was spent in discussion. Generally, each topic was well exhausted before it was dropped, with topics ranging from experiences to training to what were the other trainees like. (The last one was bluntly put off to the side in both dorms, knowing it would be a bad idea to talk about their comrades in detail.)

The following night, teams RWBY and JNPR gathered in Professor Ozpins' office. They were all prepared to make their decisions.

Weiss stepped forward first. "I would like to join your Order, please." Ozpin nodded, and Professor Goodwitch, who was just back from a field assignment, motioned for her to step off to the right side of the desk.

Next was Pyrrha. "I would like to join, as well." She was motioned to the side as well.

Third was Nora, who still carried her determined expression from the previous night. "I wanna join too." Off to the right she went.

Ren followed Nora, with a simple "I'll join."

Yang took her usual carefree attitude with things, though the teachers could tell she was in fact taking this seriously. "Gotta keep an eye on my sister, so I guess I'm in."

Finally, Blake took an extra moment to make up her mind. "I used to be a white fang assassin. I never liked it because we were harming innocents. That's why I left. But here, I think I would be doing a job that would help the innocents. I'm in."

Ozpin stood from behind his desk, and waked over to stand in front of the new recruits. "Do you all remember what Ruby and Jaune said last night when they introduced our order?" The six students nodded. "very well, please repeat those words now, and become one of us."

"We work in the dark, to serve the light. We are assassins."


	5. Chapter 5: initiation

Two days later, Assassin's Underground Lair:

The six new recruits were being officially brought into the Order. Unlike those brought in from off the streets, their fighting abilities were well known to their superiors, so they were being brought in at a special rank introduced for those in that situation: Greenhorn. While Greenhorns were allowed to do missions, they were not allowed to do actual assassinations yet.

The induction ceremony was done simply. The Greenhorns were led into the room, whereupon they were given their cloaks, which they donned. Next they were escorted to the leader of the branch they would work under, in this case, Ozpin, who was an Assassin fourth rank. There they knelt, and recited.

"The creed?" Ozpin asked

"Nothing is true, Everything is permitted." They all said.

"The first tenant?"

"Stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent." Yang said.

"The second tenant?"

"Hide in plain sight, be one with the crowd." Nora, this time.

"The final tenant?"

"Never compromise the Brotherhood." Weiss.

"The first irony?"

"We seek to promote peace, yet we commit murder." Ren

"The second irony?"

"We seek to open the minds of men, yet we require obedience to our rules." Blake

"The final irony?"

"We seek to reveal the dangers of blind faith, yet practice it ourselves." Lastly, Pyrrha.

"Do all of you swear to abide by the Creed and its tenants, and to obey your superiors' directions, and do as directed, no matter what?"

"We do."

"Then rise, Brothers of the Order of Assassins, and receive your hidden blades."

Professors port and Oobleck walked out to each of the students, who held out their right arm, and were fitted with the gauntlet and quickly explained it's how-to's. Beyond that, there was no celebrating, only a few congratulations and glad-to-work-with-you's, before Ozpin dismissed everybody to bed.

 **hey guys, please please please review, i wanna know how i did**

 **Gajeel out!**


	6. Chapter 6: food for thought

Teams RWBY and JNPR had settled into a new rhythm in their second year at Beacon. During the day, they were normal students, but every other night, they changed their objectives, training not against the Grimm, but the darker portions of humanity. They learned, not how to slay a beowolf or boarbatusk, but those who would enslave humanity for no reason other than to gain that power for themselves. But their most important lesson took place on their first lesson after their initiation. Here they were taught that sometimes true strength can come from sparing a life. Ruby and Jaune were sent off to their usual training, having already had this lesson when they were initiated. This left WBYNPR in the underground briefing room with Professor Oobleck, who they were currently referring to as Master.

"You must understand this well," he said, unusually calmly. "life is precious, even if it is the life of a corrupted official or a Templar leader, or even the person trying to hunt you yourself down. That life was put here for a reason, and it should be known that there are times when those who spare the lives of their enemies can be rewarded down the line." He took another swig of his coffee before continuing.

"I myself had this happen to me when I was a junior assassin, only at the rank of footpad. I was sent to eliminate a group of Templars who were attempting to infiltrate the kingdom of Vacuo, as well as their trainees. And I did so, all but the last trainee, a young man of thirteen years. There was something in his eyes that made me hesitate, my blade an inch from his throat.

"Even to this day, I don't know what that something was, but it saved my life twenty years later, when that same former trainee was put in charge of interrogating me after I was captured on a failed assassination. He recognized me shortly after the torture began, and I could see that in his eyes. And he hesitated. He left the room, and shortly came back with a large bag.

"Suddenly, he turned his blade around, and struck down the guards of my cell, his own allies, and freed me, returning to me my all equipment and robes from his bag, and together we fought our way out of the stronghold.

"He told me later, before we parted ways, that when he realized who I was, that I had spared his life all those years ago, he knew why he was here, and he felt the _need_ to do the same for me. After that, he wrote down a great deal of information on the Templars, and swore to never again go back to their side. He was later adopted into the Assassins Order, and now works as a decoder for intercepted messages from the Templars.

"So you see, violence is not always the answer. As the saying goes, you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar, do you understand?"

"Yes, Master." Came from six pairs of lips.

"Good. Now I would like to introduce you to a new topic of your curriculum. Tracking will be the most important skill in your arsenal for quite a while, since we are not going to have you doing assassinations quite yet." It was there that Oobleck stepped aside for Master Port, and went to oversee the other trainees, who were training at their own skill levels.

Making his way over to the sparring grounds designed for rank four trainees, Oobleck quickly searched out Ruby and Jaune, calling them over to him.

"2R, 2J, I would like to have your opinions on how you think your friends will do within our order. I understand that they will have to adapt, but how easily do you think they will do so?"

Ruby spoke first. "I think Blake and Weiss might have some trouble. Blake might not be ready to take lives again, even if she says she is. She feels guilty about her work for the White Fang, and being here might trigger something inside of her. As for Weiss, she was raised… carefully. Her parents kept her safe, and although she is ready to face the Grimm without problem, I'm completely unsure if she has ever taken a human life before. Even when she fights the shite fang, I know that she goes for non-lethal blows. Yang might be acting carefree about all of this, but I think that she is serious enough, and shouldn't have too much trouble. But Blake and Weiss should be eased in slowly."

"I see. Thank you 2R, you may return to your practice. 2J, what are your thoughts on your team?"

Jaune thought a moment more before he replied. "I think Ren will be OK. He has always been the rational type and he is very careful about his actions, and his combat style should mesh well with ours. Nora is taking this more seriously than I've ever seen her with anything before, and I'm worried that she might get herself worked up a little too much inside of her head. Pyrrha is very empathetic, so she should be eased in slowly so that things won't build up and break something inside of her. That's really the biggest worry I have of all my team, self-induced troubles or anxieties."

"Thank you. We will take this into careful consideration. You may resume your sparring session." Oobleck then turned and walked away, typing things on his scroll.

 **hey guys, Gajeel is BACK! sorry for the long wait, but if you've looked at my profile, you'd know that i'm also writing a book that i one day hope to publish! (quick thanks to planar sage for being my beta on that! go check out his stuff too!) that writing definitely takes prescedense over this, because it might one day make me money (knock on wood for me, please) but to everyone who is reading my story, thanks so much for following along! if you have any ideas for things i could put in here, review or PM me, i need the inspiration! thanks!**


	7. Chapter 7: first missions

Two months later:

It was time for initiate missions to be presented. While the lower ranks were never actually given assassination missions, they were still sent out into the field on reconnaissance and tracking missions, much like the one Ruby and Jaune were on a few months ago, where they were spying on a white fang meeting. On that particular mission, they had uncovered proof that the warehouse the Fang were using for training was owned by Abstergo, and some of the Fang members there had been recognized as Templar grunts.

Teams JNPR and RWBY were both split in half for their missions, and given assignments that were deemed necessary to work on one members' weaker skills, while playing to the others' strengths.

First: Blake and Yang were sent to spy on a high profile Templar leader, and obtain incriminating evidence on him to help in his public arrest.

Next, Ruby and Weiss were to collect the information from their teammates, and plant it in the Warehouse district for the police to find on an "anonymous tip," whereupon he would be arrested by the police with the assistance of one Professor Port from Beacon Academy, after which the transport would be found abandoned with an unconscious Port and a suspicious lack of prisoner. (in reality, Port would take out the Templar, and be knocked out by the accompanying assassin who would be undercover as a police officer.)

While Team RWBY assisted that mission, Team JNPR would be splitting up to assist Oobleck with his search for one of the Pieces of Eden. Squad Jaune/Pyrrha would be sent out into the Forever Fall forest, to scout an area for the temple containing the Piece, while Squad Nora/Ren would run interference for the White Fang that had been spotted in the area recently, and who seemed to be searching for something, though what the Fang could want from that area was anyone's guess.

The bullhead tilt-jet that took the two squads out to the forest was piloted by none other than Master Ozpin himself, who would also be on standby if this particular mission went awry. This piece was believed to be one that was used a few centuries ago by the middle ages hero Joan of Arc, where Atlas now stands, to lead the now defunct kingdom of Mantle to victory in multiple battles against Vacuoan forces, before she was burned at the stake by the Templars in a failed attempt to gain control of the piece, which was hidden away by Joan before she was caught.

They were nearing the LZ, a small clearing near the spot Oobleck believed the temple to be, when Ozpin suddenly jerked the stick on the plane, nearly sending Nora to the floor, since she had been trying to balance on one foot, a training technique Master Port offered her to help her focus harder on one thing at a time. Jaune hurried back from the cockpit, where he had been in the co-pilot seat learning about the ways to control the jet, with an "urgent news" expression on his face.

"Radar ping. There's White Fang Bullheads nearby, so the plans have changed. We're putting down a little early and Master is pulling back. Now we are operating as a 4-man cell, for better defense against any local Fang activity. I'm leading, as usual, upon an encounter, I'll decide whether we go as assassins or huntsmen, kill or apprehend. Codenames from here on out. Clear?" Jaune's usual shy manner always completely disappeared when he was in his assassin mode, leaving a confident, battle-worthy commander, who Pyrrha found to be extremely attractive.

"Yes, sir." His team replied

"OK, then, get ready for drop off. Thor, Mulan, you two are on over watch." Jaune said, strapping his two pistols to his hips. He had started to adopt the twin silenced dust pistols since he started his assassin training, and now carried them constantly in addition to Crocea Mors. He felt they covered his lack of ranged attacks more than adequately.

Ren and Nora nodded, preparing their weapons to cover the group upon landing. "Achillies, grab the tracker, I'll get the container for the piece." Jaune continued, reaching for a small metal box about the size of a shoe box.

Pyrrha nodded. "Yes, sir, Joanar." She quickly moved to collect the Tracker, which essentially looked like a large compass about a foot across, and detected a special type of radiation that was unique to the Pieces, and its properties were rather unique as well, enabling a rough area of the radiation's source to be determined. With that, the four trainees moved to the door of the tilt-jet and leapt out, first Nora and Ren, then Jaune and Pyrrha.

They landed in a small clearing in the forest, and for a minute they hardly even breathed, as they scanned their surroundings. Finding it all clear, they quickly set to work. First, Jaune, took the tracker from Pyrrha and began to set it up, inputting the activation codes only he knew, and getting it running while the other three kept an eye out. Finally, the little radar screen blipped and Pyrrha, who had highly excelled at the tracking and mapping specialized training back at the hideout, came over, and announced some grave news.

"Looks like the blip points right at the Fang encampment. They are in our way. We'll have to deal with them to get to the target."

Jaune muttered a curse under his breath, even with the four of them, that was a tall order. Also, it meant that the Fang were looking for the Piece, something he had guessed when he found out that they were searching in the same area that the group was destined for.

"We have no choice then. Call Master. We'll have to request reinforcements, and go in the hard way. Leave it up to Master whether we go in as assassins or huntsmen."

A quick call later, the four junior assassins were moving to their assigned positions for the upcoming raid. They had been promised two teams of assassins to support them, but in the end, they were still responsible for extracting the Piece. Soon, their comm rings buzzed three times, the signal to launch the assault.

Things were about to get interesting.


	8. Chapter 8: within the ruins

Slipping out of the brush they were hiding in, Team J-MAT (JNPR when operating as assassins, the acronym was of their code names) swiftly ambushed a team of three White Fang guards and dragged their limp bodies into the bushes without a single shot being fired. At the same time, shots rang out on the West side of the Fang compound, as a team of assassins proceeded to launch an assault on that side, diverting the Faunus radicals' attention from the two teams sneaking through the camp from the East. Alongside J-MAT was Team GAST, a team of third year huntsmen who were also second year assassins, (also known as team STRK (Strike) when they were operating as huntsmen). Joanar had been placed in command of the group, and he lead them with careful stealth through the maze of tents, following the ping from their tracker towards where they could find their prize.

Keeping to the sides of the tents, the eight assassins made their way forward, careful not to attract the attention of the random Fang Faunus they came across. When they reached the ruins that seemed to house the Piece, however, a problem quickly arose.

15 White Fang members were guarding the entrance, and there were no tents or other obstructions the group could use to get closer without being noticed.

Calling the others over to his position through the use of their communication rings, Jaune quickly made his decision.

"Glaive, take Spear and Tong Fa, see if you can't draw some of the guards to the west, make it look like you are with the diversion group. Axe, Mulan, Achilles, Thor and I will take out the remaining guards, then get the Piece. Everyone, get going, we'll move out on your cue, Glaive."

The dispatched trio slipped away, concealing their presence with tents and rocks and trees, until they reached the west side of the clearing. Once there, the assassin Tong Fa's weapons split open to become twin dust SMG's, whereupon she unleashed a torrent of gunfire at the guards of the ruins, as Glaive and Spear hid to either side of her to ambush the guards as they chased after her.

The ruse worked, and seven of the 15 guards rushed after the distraction, and the other 8 also turned their attention to the west, causing them to miss the remaining five assassins sneaking up behind them. This mistake proved fatal, as Axe and Mulan leapt into their midst, the blades of their weapons mere blurs as they silently struck down 6 guards before the last two caught on. One of those two, a slender young girl of maybe 17 or 18, with wolf ears atop her head, dropped her weapon and ran, but her comrade raised his weapon to fire, only for it to be slashed in two by Achilles' sword. He was then knocked unconscious by a quick pommel strike to the temple.

With the guards neutralized, Joanar and Thor moved to the entrance of the ruins, while the other three, plus the distraction three (who had successfully dealt with the first 7 guards and returned) hid themselves and kept a lookout for white fang personnel. Thor held a small ring, one of two the Vale assassins branch possessed. These rings were the keys to the "vaults" that hid the Pieces of Eden. While the vaults could technically be breached with brute force, it would take a heck of a lot of it, and was more likely than not to end up with lots of casualties and a still-sealed vault. So the key rings were always the best bet.

Thor held up the ring to the stone wall, which ground softly as it slid back and to the sides, revealing a long, downward sloping passage towards the center of the ruins, from which a slight glow could be seen.

Joanar nodded to Thor, and the two hurried down the passage, weapons at the ready, and came to a halt at the end of the hall to find themselves in a rather plain room, the walls were carved from the stone, and there weren't really any decorations, but in the center of the room, on a small pedestal, rested a small orb, which could only be the Piece of Eden. It glowed with a faint golden light, which seemed to pulse a little bit.

"Joanar, the container." Thor said.

"Right." Joanar pulled the lead lined capsule off his hip, which would conceal the presence of the orb (hopefully) until it could be placed in a secure vault back at the assassins' base beneath Beacon. Placing the trap bottom of the container over the orb, Joanar pushed it down, the bottom folding up to allow the orb inside, and sliding closed beneath it, sealing the Piece of Eden in the capsule.

Mission complete, Thor pulled out her scroll, buzzing the communicator rings of the whole task force five times, the "pull back" signal. Quickly, the two in the ruins hurried outside, only to be met with the sounds of fighting. The lookouts they had left at the entrance were engaged in battle with approximately 30-40 white fang, one of whom sported the larger mask of a lieutenant. The ursa of a man wielded an enormous greatsword with one hand, and a rifle in the other, and his heavy swings were driving Glaive backwards, while his rifle was keeping Tong Fa from entering the fight, having to keep her weapons spinning to deflect the surprisingly accurate shots. Axe and Spear were back to back, fending off wave after wave of Fang grunts, while Mulan and Achilles were hopping around acting as distractions and snipers, picking off their opponents one by one.

Joanar made a split second decision. "Thor, go help Glaive and Tong Fa with that lieutenant. I'll assist in clearing out the grunts."

"Roger!" Thor replied, shifting her Grenade launcher to its hammer form, and, charging forward towards the sword wielder, went for the easiest strike she could: the elbow of his sword hand, which was currently above his head, about to bring his sword down on Glaive's unprotected flank. The bone snapped with a horrific _crunch_ , and the sword itself went flying across the clearing, nearly impaling another member of the Fang. Howling with pain and rage, the massive man lashed out with his rifle, hoping to catch her unaware with the bayonet that popped out of the front end.

But Glaive was faster. The staff of his weapon split open length-wise, a handle folded down, and the lightning dust crystal within sparked to life, electrifying the blade with enough power to fry anyone's nervous system. A swift pull of the handle, and the blade was launched, embedding itself in the Lieutenant's hip, and a massive jolt shook his body as his nerves overloaded, and his brain cooked inside his skull. He fell to the ground, dead instantly.

As Glaive retracted the blade back to the staff via a micro-filament wire, Thor and Tong Fa hurried over to him. "Thanks for the assist, Thor. I couldn't get past his guard without opening myself up to him. You sure saved my ass."

"No problem, but I think we'd better save the celebrating for later, there's still a few Fang to mop up. Then we need to get gone."

"Agreed." Tong Fa put in. "But I think Joanar has the Fang grunts under control, so we can start pulling back."

Sure enough, across the clearing, Joanar, Mulan, Achilles, Axe and Spear were just finishing up with the remaining Fang, with the last three throwing down their weapons in surrender. After rounding up as many of the weapons as they could comfortably carry, the eight assassins left, darting through the forest to where their bullheads were waiting, piloted by Master class assassins, who were just as eager as the rest to get home.


	9. Chapter 9: in the ruined city

3 Weeks later:

With the Piece of Eden successfully stored in a secret vault beneath Beacon, the teams involved were once again in their training routine. Team RWBY's mission had gone off without a hitch, and they had been in and out in less than two hours, and their target was out of commission, thanks to a skillful take-down by Master Port.

This was the week, however, where second and third year Huntsmen and Huntress trainees were to be sent on missions, their first mission without an accompanying Huntsman or Huntress. Some, like Team CRDL chose to go on missions completely solo, but other teams were allowed to team up to conquer more dangerous missions that would usually be assigned to full-fledged hunter teams.

This time, Team JNPR went solo to assist with clearing out a nest of Cave-Grimm underneath a small village outside Vale proper, while Team RWBY teamed up with the members of Team STRK to work out a small scale assault on the remains of a village that had been over-run the previous month, as a first measure to take the village back. They would be in charge of leaving supplies in hidden lockers, which the Grimm never took an interest in, recovering records from the City Hall, and making maps of the city that reflected the damage inflicted by the Grimm during the collapse.

Team STRK (Shane, Tabitha, Rachael, Kenneth) met up with Team RWBY at the landing pad outside Beacon. Shane was a mountain of a man, with arms like small trees, and he wielded his glaive with lightning fast strikes.

Tabitha, who's semi-permanent scowl had her labeled as one of the toughest, and scariest, girls at Beacon, was as agile as could be, and her twin axes that combined into a small railgun only increased that reputation.

Rachael, as a Cheetah Faunus, was extremely fast, which aided her when she used her Tong Fa batons/SMG's to blast anyone and everything into oblivion.

Finally, Kenneth was a slightly heavier guy, but his semblance, which allowed him to alter how gravity affected him, made up for that fact, since he could lower his weight and run almost as fast as Rachael, or jump up and increase his weight to the point where he could pin a Deathstalker to the ground. He could also apply his semblance to his electric spear, though he preferred not to.

The two teams boarded their bullhead and settled in for the half-hour flight, making small chat, some of which included the recent assassin missions, while Team RWBY had already heard about the incident involving the Piece of Eden, Team STRK had yet to hear about the Templar take-down. They got a kick out of Weiss and Ruby's tale of how the two used their free-running skills to pass silently through the rafters of a warehouse full of people, where Ruby, without thinking, accidentally used her semblance and produced a rose petal, which luckily landed on a rafter, and thus they avoided getting caught by pure luck.

Upon arriving, the two teams leapt from their bullhead, landing on the roof of the desolate villages airport. After carefully surveying the situation for a minute in silence, Ruby and Shane began dividing up the duties for their stay. After Weiss had finished griping about meal cleanup duty, they settled in for the night, planning to start their patrols the next day.

The two teams each chose a different direction to map for two days, with RWBY taking N, NW, W and SW, and STRK going S, SE, E and NE from their base. This way they could map the city in 8 days instead of sixteen. They would meet back at the airport every two days, to resupply and discuss any problems encountered, as well as compile the mapping data they had gathered.

They set out the next day, going North and South, and carefully began to map out the destroyed city. The first two days went smoothly, with only minor Grimm encounters, and a quarter of the city successfully mapped.

During the day three outbound leg of their NW patrol, a problem arose for Team RWBY. They were working their way through the city from high spot to high spot, giving them the best vantages from which to use their mapping UAVs, when, as they reached the top of a building, they unwittingly walked right into a Gryphon nest, containing three juveniles and an adult Gryphon.

Immediately, the four Grimm took to the air, cawing loudly as they wheeled around the building, preparing to attack. Luckily, Ruby was on the ball and immediately began throwing orders to the others.

"Blake, Yang, cover me and Weiss if they get too close, Weiss, try to cover their wings with ice, force them down to where the rest of us can deal with them easier. I'll focus on the ones that keep their distance with sniping." Three quick nods were her answer and the group moved to mutually advantageous positions, Blake and Weiss at one corner of the group, with Blake covering Weiss's back, while Ruby stood at the center of the group, Crescent Rose in its sniper mode, and Yang covering the other corner.

While Weiss began firing ice shots at the closest juvenile, Ruby began firing her latest addition to her arsenal at the adult Gryphon: explosive Burn dust rounds with little bits of shrapnel embedded in them in such a way that it acted as a shaped explosive charge, directing the shrapnel into the target. Despite the uneven footing the nest provided, Ruby managed to shred the right wing of the hybrid Grimm, forcing it to land on the roof they were fighting from.

As the massive Grimm landed, Yang was on it immediately, with an excellently placed series of blows, she easily bashed in the face of the creature. By this time, Weiss had covered one juvenile Gryphons' wings in ice, after which it fell and died on impact with the ground twelve stories below, and was currently working her shots closer and closer to her next target.

But with Yang out of position, there was no one covering her corner of the group, letting the last juvenile sneak up from below the level of the top of the roof. Cautiously, it crept silently towards the three girls who weren't currently engaged in face-bashing another of its kind, fully intent on wreaking havoc on them.

Luckily, Ruby, who was searching for the last target, turned around just in time to see the threat, and immediately switched Crescent Rose over to its scythe form, then darted forward from a cloud of rose petals to engage the sneaky Grimm.

At the same time, the third Grimm, now with one very chilly wing, landed on the roof and charged at the two who were responsible for the state of said wing, screeching its displeasure. But Blake was one step ahead of it, charging forward and flicking one of her assassins' throwing knives (which she now carried a few of all the time) at the beasts' face, the knife went right down the loud mouth of the beast, giving it a coughing fit in the middle of its screech, and distracting it long enough for Blake to execute a running slide underneath the beast and cut it open length-wise with Gambol Shrouds' cleaver portion, firing the pistol into the cut as she passed, blasting the young Grimm to pieces.

With Ruby just finishing chopping up the attempted sneak, the four girls took a breather before getting their mapping equipment out. Yang passed out water bottles, of which Blake got an extra one to wash off with because she had slid underneath a Grimm that was gushing black blood.

After mapping the surrounding area with their small UAV mapping scanners, Team RWBY got moving again, heading back down the building to the rubble cluttered street, and headed off to the next point on their journey.

Meanwhile, Team STRK was about to switch to their secondary objective, where they would have to operate as Team GAST.

 **hey y'all, it's Gajeel! Well, First we had an assassin mission, now a huntsmen mission, plus the introduction of my OC team, who will be featured in the next chapter! As always, please review and let me know how i'm doing or anything you'd like to see done or changed in my story! I'm always open to constructive critisism.**


	10. Chapter 10: the other team

Of the city, Team STRK was switching objectives and acronyms. Now operating as Team GAST, they were searching through the city hall for suspected Templar documents that would show the location and funding source of a large Templar cell that had been causing trouble in Vale. The biggest problem with their search, however, was the large pack of Beowolves that had taken over the hall. With every hallway cleared, they would come across another that was once again occupied with the wolf-like Grimm.

On the third floor, however, came a real shocking sight. Two Ursi had set up a den in a large corner office, and were looking after a pack of Ursa cubs. And that office, according to the nameplate, was the one the group was needing to search for the documents. Tabitha and Kenneth crept ahead of the group, preparing to engage the two bear Grimm.

"Just our luck, huh?" Kenneth, or rather, Spear, muttered, his attitude as cynical as always.

"Shut it, Spear. Just be glad most of them are still cubs." Tabitha, (Axe) was the only one the large boy would listen to without fail, seeing as how they were dating. Axe then connected her axes together into their railgun mode, carefully loading it so as to not make any noise.

Taking careful aim, she let loose her railshot, but the targeted Ursa moved at the very last second, and by pure luck avoided having its head pulverized by the Mach 2 projectile.

Now alert and on guard, the two adult Ursi charged at the pair roaring. Spear stepped in front of Axe, who was disconnecting the two halves of her weapon, with his spear at the ready. Next he activated his semblance to increase his weight, and when the first Ursa reached him, its paw was batted away by a hand that weighed even more than its own. Then it received a shock, in more ways than one, as an electric spear was jabbed into its throat, through which a massive shock was delivered that fried the Ursa clear to its bones.

While Spear was dealing with the first Ursa, Axe, with her namesakes ready, charged at the second one, which answered her challenge with a roar and a swipe of its paw. Axe dropped to her knees and leaned back as she slid underneath the swing, then leapt to her feet and unleashed a flurry of blows onto the back of the Ursas' legs, rendering it incapable of standing on its own, and bringing the massive beast down hard on the floor. Tabitha then calmly disabled the remaining two legs, followed by the severing of the beasts' neck, leaving the Grimm dead on the floor and dissolving.

With a nod and a quick kiss, the two hurried into the office den, quickly taking out the cubs, then they began rifling through the papers that were strewn about, trying to find the documents they were tasked with finding. Though they didn't find those papers, using Eagle Vision, Spear found a safe hidden behind a false floorboard, which looked like it would be the perfect size for documents.

Finally joining up with Shane and Rachael, (Glaive and Tong Fa, respectively) Glaive used his more sensitive Eagle Vision to open the safe, finding that there was but one packet of papers within, the packet sealed with the Templar coat of arms.

"I think it would be best to get it straight to Master," Tong Fa said, idly spinning her weapons. "It might be stuff above our pay grade."

"Agreed, you brought the carrier drone, right?" Glaive said, referring to a small pigeon looking robot, just a bit bigger than an actual pigeon, used by the assassins to send messages too valuable to be risked on the airwaves, even over secure channels.

"I've got it." Tong Fa replied, holstering her batons and rummaging through her rucksack. A moment later she pulled out the bot, and, unscrewing its head, she placed the rolled up document pack inside the hollow body of the bird. After programming coordinates for its flight to beacon, it was sent on its way.

"Okay, once we're back on the street, we're back to primaries." **(A/N: real names, as opposed to assassin code names)** Glaive announced. With that, Team GAST headed back through the cleared hallways of the city hall, heading out to get some fresh air before heading next door to the skyscraper they would use for their next mapping point.

O==I======== ========I==O

Now back on the street, five hours and three map points later, Team STRK was setting up a supply station for the effort to retake the village. Inside an old supermarket, ironically, the group was setting up supplies, consisting of non-perishable food, some Dust, and first aid supplies. They were also refilling their canteens from the stores solar powered rain gatherer and purifier, which was in remarkably good condition, considering there had been no maintenance done on it in a few months, according to its inspection sticker.

Taking a swig from his fresh canteen, Shane spoke up. "Anyone thinking it'd be a good time to set up camp for the night? We've covered more than expected today, and I'm kind of beat."

"Sure, hon." Rachael replied, skipping over to where their bags were laying against a wall. Shane stared after her, partly because he loved the way his girlfriend's cheetah tail swished when she skipped, which she did a LOT, partly because she liked teasing Shane.

"Now Tabby, don't go crawling into Kenny's sleeping bag when it's your turn to keep watch." She called out, earning herself a deep scowl from the tough girl across the room. Kenneth, on the other hand, just facepalmed and groaned, he hated it when Rae made jokes that involved him, and ever since last year, when they were caught in a blizzard on a student mission and had to all huddle together for warmth, lots of the jokes had to do with sleeping bags.

But they all bedded down for the night, with the exception of Kenneth, who was taking the first watch. When his two-hour watch was over, Tabitha took her turn, then Rachael, whose faunus night vision usually had her taking the watch closest to the darkest part of the night. And it was that night vision that gave her the ability to see danger creeping up on them.

"GUYS! GET UP!" She shouted, waking the others, who immediately grabbed their weapons and rubbed the sleep out of their eyes.

"Report!" Shane snapped into his "leader mode", instantly alert and ready to fight, his glaive primed to strike.

"There's a large cluster of Grimm headed towards us, looks like a large herd of Boarbatusks with a couple of Deathstalkers and a King Taijitu thrown in. They'll be here in three minutes, no more."

"Alright, Tabitha and Kenneth, you two work on the Boarbatusks, I know how much you two love taking those suckers out," the two raised their arms and knocked their forearms together, their way of acknowledging that they were working together, though their matching wicked grins could have done that already. "Rachael and I will focus on the bigger prey, whoever gets done first helps the other team. Clear?"

"You got it."

"Yup."

"Ready, boss."

"Ok, then, move up to the roof, we'll start with sniping tactics until they get too close, then engage."

Quickly, the four teammates rushed to the roof, where Tabitha and Rachael, the team's two ranged attackers, began picking off any Grimm with an exposed weak spot they could see. By the time the herd reached the building, 27 Boarbatusks and a Deathstalker were dissolving on the ground along the path of the herd. This left maybe 25-30 Boarbatusks, 2 Deathstalkers and the King Taijitu.

Leaping from the roof first Shane and Kenneth each landed on a Boar Grimm, impaling the beasts with their weapons, and clearing a space for the other two to land. Instantly, Tabitha and Kenneth went wild, axes slashing and spear skewering Boarbatusks left and right.

For Rachael and Shane, a Deathstalker was their first target. Rachael shot towards the Scorpion Grimm, her Tong Fa batons spinning at insanely fast rates, speeds that were near impossible for anyone but a cheetah Faunus. As she closed in on the beast, it swung a pincer at her, attempting to cut her in half. Bringing one baton up in an upper-cut like strike, she bashed the pincer up and over her head, then switched her other baton over to its SMG mode, blasting away at the un-armored joint of the pincer, and her high explosive rounds shredded the appendage, taking that "arm" completely off.

Next she leapt over the Grimm, using her baton form weapon to block a strike from the Grimm's stinger, and repeated the process on the other pincer, once again leaving a stump that was gushing black blood.

With nothing left to defend against a frontal, strength based attack, Rachael moved away in search of a new target, and Shane lunged in to bring the blade of his weapon down hard on the massive Grimm's head, shattering the bone plating right between the beady red eyes, killing the beast instantly. Paying it no further mind as it started to dissolve, Shane moved after Rachael, who was already blasting both SMG's at the white head of the King Taijitu, using her superior speed to keep almost dancing around it, keeping the black head unable to take effective action against her.

While the black head was distracted trying to find a way to help its other half, Shane rushed forward, catching it unaware, and shot the head of his glaive into its glowing red eye, causing it to screech in pain as the wire yanked the blade back to the staff, drenching the ground in Grimm blood.

With the black head screeching in pain, the white head jerked around, its ire drawn to Shane, who barely had time to raise his weapon before he was sent crashing across the street and into the window of a shop, sending glass flying. With both heads now focused solely on Shane, Rachael took the chance to reload her guns with HEAP's (High Explosive, Armor Penetrating rounds), then switched them over to single shot mode, holstering the left gun, now in baton mode, and grasping the remaining one with both hands. Taking a knee, she put a single round straight through the one good eye remaining on the black head, completely blinding it for but a moment, before the explosive Dust contained in the shell put the massive Grimm down to only half its original brainpower.

With one half down, the King Taijitu could no longer relocate, leaving it easy prey for the next HEAP to take its remaining half down. It was dead before Shane could even climb out of the window he was thrown through.

The second Deathstalker fell the same way the first did, Rachael removing the pincers with her guns and Shane smashing its ugly bony mask in. By the time the Major Grimm were dealt with, the Boarbatusks were all dissolved, it was early morning, and the adrenaline in the teams' veins was sure to give them a major crash later. So they went back to sleep, with Shane taking the last watch, since he had gotten the most sleep the night before, and two hours later, Team STRK was once again on the move, mapping their way back towards the center of the city to regroup with Team RWBY.

 **Hey, y'all, I'm back! As usual, I own nothing, please review, etc. etc. Please let me know what you think of my OC team, who will be making occasional appearances throughout the story, though i will be primarily concerned with RWBY and JNPR. also, if you can think of a relevant code-name acronym for team RWBY, please send it my way, i can't think of one, TBH. till next time, Gajeel out!**


	11. Chapter 11: emergency at home

At the last rendezvous with Team STRK before the end of the mission, two days later, Team RWBY was preparing for their final out-and-back mapping session, gathering the supplies they would spread out over the city and doing maintenance on their weapons, when a message arrived on the scrolls of all eight of the Hunter trainees, causing a few chuckles from Shane and Yang at the strange mix of ringtones that echoed throughout the desolate city.

But their mirth was stifled when they opened their scrolls to find a brief, but alarming message from Ozpin, "The Bureau was invaded by Templars, multiple identities compromised, your teams are needed back at Beacon now. Bullheads will arrive at your location in thirty minutes."

Horrified stares were all that went around the group until Tabitha muttered a few nasty words under her breath, before addressing the group. "Well, I guess we'll have to just deal with whatever comes, no use fussing about it now."

"Agreed." Blake said. "No matter who was compromised, we will protect them. We are a _brother_ hood for a reason, we stick together, no matter what. Let's just hope our teams weren't among those who got exposed."

There was a moment of silence, then Shane, who was technically the senior mission leader, clapped his hands together. "Okay, everyone! Round up your stuff! We're going wheels up in thirty, anything not ready by then gets left behind!"

The group began rushing to gather their belongings, loading their rucksacks and bags with their things, before hopping into the Bullheads when they arrived.

Back at Beacon, Teams STRK and RWBY were met by Professor Oobleck and hurriedly escorted to Professor Ozpin, who wasted no time in explaining the situation.

"At 0345 hours this morning, the Assassins' bureau in downtown Vale fell under attack by a force of Templars of an unknown size. There were significant casualties during the attack, and our databases were breached at 0405, with four team being compromised, one of whom, Team CFVY, has already been notified. While neither Team STRK or Team RWBY are confirmed to be compromised as of the current time, we are still searching the data of the computers to see which files were accessed. Until then, I would like you eight to remain at Beacon for the time being. You will not be using the training base, and will make every effort to downplay any connection to the assassins' order. For now, you are simply huntsmen and huntresses, attending the Beacon Academy that is known to everyone. Do I make myself clear?"

Once all the students present had acknowledged him, Ozpin continued. "Very well. Report to debriefing for your mission to the collapsed city, I will see you all in your lessons tomorrow. Stay safe, all of you."

With that, the students headed to the elevator entrance of the Headmasters' office, down to the debriefing rooms for Beacons' hunter students then headed to the dorms' common rooms for a little R&R. Immediately, they noticed that the common rooms were far too empty. Only Teams CRDL, CFVY, JNPR, and a few first year teams were there, no more than 20 students in an area fit to hold over 50 comfortably.

Teams CFVY and JNPR were gathered in a corner with some snacks sitting untouched on the table between them. It was obvious that they knew what RWBY and STRK did, that CFVY had been compromised, and it was possible that the rest of them were as well. Weiss walked over towards the group, and surprised them all by sitting on the arm of Coco's chair.

"You're worried aren't you?" she asked softly. "for your teams' safety?"

Cocos' reply was a silent nod. She was always the type that took it upon herself to ensure the safety of her team.

"I won't say you shouldn't worry." Weiss continued. "But just know that you aren't in this alone. We're all here for you."

Others in the group murmured their assent. Jaune leaned forward. "just in this little group, you've got 16 highly trained and motivated fighters, 4 whole squads of huntsmen and huntresses. If you ever need any of us, we're just a scroll beep away."

Yatsuhashi, just returning from getting the group drinks, patted Jaune on the shoulder and nodded his thanks, while Coco just smiled slightly, her usual "tough girl" façade returning slightly as she managed to relax a little bit, reassured by her friends.

"So, anyone up for some games?" Shane asked. "I could go get my poker setup, if you guys want?"

"You're on!" Nora and Yang said simultaneously, while Yatsuhashi and, surprisingly, Fox and Velvet joined much more sedately, with Ren being dragged along by Nora as usual.

While those seven went off to another side of the room, the rest split into smaller groups to discuss different current events. Weiss, Pyrrha, Jaune, Tabitha and Kenneth went off to another corner to discuss current politics, while Ruby, Blake, Coco and Rachael decided to talk about their current situation regarding the break in at the bureau and recent missions.

With Ruby and Blake thoroughly entertaining the other two with the description of their fight against the gryphons, Weiss was more interested in how a certain businessman from atlas (*cough* her father *cough cough*) was being very outspoken against the Abstergo Corporations' recent strong-arm tactics with their buyers and partner corporations. Now that she knew that Abstergo was the face of the Templars, Weiss was more than a little nervous that something might happen to her father, since he was the head of the largest competitor of Abstergo. It was not unlikely he thought along similar lines, because rumor had it he was hiring extra security as of late.

Another problem child in the political world was coming from Vacuo, where civil unrest was a growing problem. The Government there was trying to keep order, but something was stirring the people up, and the leadership was at a loss of what to do next.

Soon, however, the common rooms' intercom rang loudly first once, then a second time, then, horrifyingly, a third time. Every Beacon student knew the meaning of the beeps: 1 for normal announcements, 2 for priority summons of a certain team or group, 3 beeps for emergencies that required the attention of every huntsman, huntress and trainee on the campus. A moment of stunned silence echoed through the commons, before the Intercom squawked, and Professor Goodwitch, in a strained voice, began talking. "All secondary type trainees **(A/N: assassin's trainees)** report to the Briefing room through the closest door immediately, this is an emergency situation. I repeat, all secondary trainees report to briefing. Do not worry about identities, make all due haste."

Teams CFVY, STRK, RWBY and JNPR looked at each other with wide eyes, before Shane shot to his feet, sending his poker chips cascading to the floor from the overturned table they had been playing at. "SECONDARIES, ON YOUR FEET, HUSTLE, HUSTLE, HUSTLE!" he called out, jerking his comrades into action.

Extending the hidden blade he kept under his perpetually long sleeves, Ren hurried over to the hidden door to the side of the large entertainment system of the common room, and quickly picked open the door. While Shane took care of keeping team CRDL from going down the hidden stairs, the rest of the group quickly made their way downstairs, joining the small-ish crowd heading to the briefing room in the hidden training area, where Masters Ozpin, Goodwitch, and Port were waiting as everyone filed into their seats. Once everyone was accounted for, Master Goodwitch spoke up.

"As I'm sure you have all heard, earlier today there was a breach of our servers in the bureau in lower Vale. 4 Beacon trainee teams have been confirmed to have been exposed, and are currently weighing their options. However, with information recently retrieved by Team GAST **(A/N: Team STRK as assassins.)** on an away mission, we have pinpointed the base of operations we believe this raid was launched out of, and are preparing a counter attack, which will certainly include all of those here, as we will need the maximum amount of manpower to breach the Templar compound.

"Said compound is located beneath the Vale Branch office of Abstergo Tech Industries, accessible only by a pair of secure lifts, both of which are heavily guarded, and accessed by scanning high ranking Templars finger prints.

"Those here will be briefed on the mission tomorrow, so until then, please make sure to get good rest, and remember your oath to the Creed. Laa Shay'a Waqi'un Mutlaq Bale Kul'un Mumkin." With that, Master Goodwitch dismissed them all to their rooms, where the Initiates set to cleaning their weapons, preparing their equipment, and readying their minds, bodies and souls for the coming storm.

 **Hey guys, sorry for the delay with getting this chapter up, I just started a new job recently, and it's mostly scheduled from 11 night to 7 in the morning. In other words, I'm constantly tired, which isn't exactly conducive to good writing. But anyway, here's chapter 10! And wow, I've actually gotten a couple more followers after the last chapter, with the tally sitting at 21!**

 **Also, I am now going to respond to reviews (with distinctive usernames only)! If I have already messaged you in PM previously, please forgive the redundancy:**

 **The Canadian Patriot(ch1 &2): I'm sorry to hear you don't like the story, hopefully it's gotten more to your liking.**

 **TheXiaDarkness(ch1 &2): thanks so much for the constructive critism, it's reviews like yours that keep me going!**

 **queen angela(ch8): I'm glad you think so!**

 **Blacksword1(ch10): Thank you for the information, I greatly appreciate it!**

 **And I saved the best for last: a shoutout to desdelor97! He/she has reviewed on every chapter since Ch6! Thank you thank you thank you! Your review makes me look forward to posting every chapter!**

 **With that, I'm signing off! Till next time, Gajeel out!**


	12. Chapter 12: battle at the warehouse

**A/N: hey guys, it's Gajeel. Sorry for the crazily long update wait time. I make no excuses or apologies, though I will say that being in the middle of moving didn't help matters any.**

 **Also, pertaining to the story, yes, our heroes can use their Hunter weapons while being undercover as assassins, and no one will recognize them. I have decided this because even Ruby couldn't recognize Cinder after fighting her, just because she was wearing a mask…. Silly Ruby.**

 **Anyways, ON TO THE STORY!**

Seven teams of assassin trainees were assembled in the underground briefing room, among them Teams GAST, J-MAT, and RANJ. **(A/N: team RWBY's assassin acronym, pronounced range, means: Reaper, Angel, Ninja, Juggernaut, not the best, I know, but I needed something.)** These 28 fighters stood quietly, waiting for their masters to tell them what they would be doing in the coming mission.

Finally, Master Oobleck, the usual mission briefer, stepped to the podium. "Listen well, because we don't have much time to spare. You all will be divided into sets of eight, or in one case, twelve, to stage diversionary raids on Templar supply points, and the like. Your teams will be handed out in a moment, and you will move immediately to your staging areas. This task is no less dangerous than the base raid proper, since it is hoped that you will be able to draw out some of the Templars from their main base. This will be an important task, as we can only spare ten master class assassins to stage the main assault, and even master classes have limits.

"After you reach your staging points, you will inform your closest Master of your ready status, and once all teams are in position, you will launch a simultaneous assault on your targets, beginning as quietly as possible, but once you enter the target buildings, you will cause as much destruction as possible to supplies and records, but only those marked with the Templar seal.

"Finally, once you hear the sirens of the first responders, you will disengage and return to your designated rally point. Your status as Beacon students will not be sufficient to get you out of trouble with the law, should you be caught, as this is likely to be classified an act of terrorism. It is also likely that the Templars have some people on the inside at the police headquarters, which will make it extremely difficult to get to you should you be caught.

"Now everyone to your teams' master for group assignments, then on to your designated bullheads. Do try not to draw too much attention to yourselves as you depart, and change into your assassin's robes only once in the city. Dismissed!"

Quickly the seven teams dispersed, getting their unit assignments and then heading off to their assigned positions. Teams GAST, J-MAT and RANJ were assigned as the twelve-person team, and assigned to raid a large supply depot belonging to the Abstergo cooperation. They flew out in two bullheads to the city, and slipped through the city towards the industrial district in groups of twos and threes. They decided to switch up the teams to better cover any weaknesses. Joanar, Axe, Thor, Juggernaut, Glaive, Spear and Tong Fa were chosen to be the primary assault force. Achilles and Reaper were placed on over-watch since they could function as snipers, while Mulan and Angel covered Reaper and Ninja covered Achilles.

The two over-watch teams moved to rooftops that together gave a vantage over all avenues of approach to the warehouse the others were going to raid. Incidentally, the warehouse was the same one Reaper and Joanar had spied on in their initiation tracking mission. Moving accordingly, Reaper returned to the antenna tower a block from the warehouse she had used to spy from before, while Achilles took up position on a high rooftop a block away from the warehouse in an almost straight line from Reaper's position.

With the over-watch teams in place, the main assault force took to hiding in an alley two blocks from the target, hiding off the ground on some scaffolding that was originally supposed to be a fire escape.

Once they were in position, they sent the "ready" signal, and began to wait. It only took thirty minutes for the "begin" signal to reach the teams, and for the next thirty-five minutes, chaos took over.

Upon receiving the signal, the assault team split into two groups, to enact a pincer attack on the target. The NW pincer was composed of Joanar, Juggernaut, Spear and Thor, while Axe, Glaive and Tong Fa attacked from the SE.

When the assault teams were within 30 meters of the warehouse, Reaper and Achilles opened up with sniper fire, silently eliminating the guards at the doors the others would use to enter the building before they could sound an alarm.

Quickly, Thor and Tong Fa breached the doors, and the assault was on. Though the main warehouse room was only guarded by a few low level Abstergo grunts, no chances were taken, as Juggernaut lived up to her codename, blasting forward with her hidden blade out (she had modified it so the right half of Ember Celica had the hidden blade concealed within it). Landing in the middle of a roving patrol, she let loose, stabbing one man through the throat with the blade, before firing off her gauntlets' shotgun, pulverizing his neck and head below the nose. Spinning on her heel, she blasted out three consecutive shots, eliminating the remaining members of the patrol before they could so much as lift their weapons.

The remaining assault team members spread out through the warehouse, quickly taking out the rest of the patrols, though they were careful to delay taking out one man who wore a necklace with the Templar seal, so that he could call out the reinforcements as was their mission.

Unbeknownst to the man, he played right into the Assassin's hands, quickly pulling out his scroll and messaging for backup from where he had hidden himself (or so he thought) in the rafters. The instant Joanar saw the man put away his scroll and draw his weapon, a simple Dust pistol, He took the man out with a single shot from Peace, one of his own Dust pistols. (The other one was named Harmony.)

Within twenty minutes, which the Assassin trainees spent destroying Templar marked supplies and fortifying their position, the requested backup arrived. They were in three vans, with about nine men in each. Quickly they fanned out, one by one entering the building without grouping up. As the last two were entering the building on Reaper's side, she let off two quick shots, neutralizing one of them, though the other managed to dodge into the building just in time to avoid the shot that had his name on it.

Once inside, however, the reinforcements, now numbering 26, consisting of 24 grunts and two lieutenants, ran into a warehouse whose single open room was filled with seemingly only crates and boxes, some of which had been smashed into pieces. The group of thirteen who had entered from Reaper's side was led by a massive man in a Lieutenants uniform, who carried a humongous broadsword strapped to his back. The Lieutenant from the group from Achilles' side was much smaller, and wielded two scimitars that were obviously infused with Fire Dust.

All of a sudden, heavily armed figures descended into the Abstergo forces' midst, slashing and blasting their way through the grunts towards the Lieutenants. But, as the Assassins should have known, appearances can be deceiving. Of the grunts who accompanied the two Lieutenants, six pulled out their true weapons, proving that they were Lieutenants as well. Charging forward, the hidden Lieutenants each engaged a different Assassin, splitting up their formations and preventing them from helping each other.

But Rank doesn't necessarily reflect one's true strength. The Abstergo Lieutenant fighting Tong Fa was a bad match up to fight her. Big and slow, he was trying to hit her with a lightning infused pole-staff, but with the speed she moved, all his swings missed by a mile. Toying with him, Tong Fa danced around him at speeds he couldn't track, before she sheathed her right-hand baton, and put her hidden blade through the back of his throat. She then turned to the grunts nearby, and began wiping the floor with them.

Another bad matchup was the broadsword wielding Lieutenant, who was fighting Axe. Her Semblance was a nasty one, since she could use it to compress little bubbles of air into tightly packed spheres, which, when released, would have the force of a small bomb. She mostly used these to blow enemies attacks off course, or give herself an opening. With every swing of her opponents' broadsword, Axe set off a small burst, using just enough energy against the flat of his blade to push it off course. And with each missed swing, she lunged in, delivering small cuts and large gashes, until finally she managed to sever a tendon and muscle in the big mans' arm, rendering him unable to lift his weapon. A quick pommel strike to the temple later, her opponent was out cold on the floor.

Other matchups were more balanced, like Thor and Juggernaut, who had managed to end up together despite the best efforts of the Abstergo response team. Matched up against a pair of Lieutenants, the two girls were holding their own, but so were their adversaries. From her spot atop a stack of crates, Thor was laying down heavy cover fire with Magnahild, while Juggernaut was engaging the two Lieutenants, using the left-hand side of Ember Celica as well as an Assassins' saber in her right hand.

While Thors' cover fire suppressed the Lieutenant who was wielding a Lightning Dust Pole-axe, Juggernaut closed the gap on the other, this one a dust mage, whose preference seemed to be using Fire Dust while shaping the flames into a whip with his aura. Blocking the whip with her saber, Juggernaut moved in, slowly cutting away at the length of the whip with the sword, she launched a powerful, she called it a 'gut-wrenching' **(heh heh, Yang pun)** blow to the mans' stomach, knocking him out with one strike.

Quickly she called out "Tag!", before sheathing her saber and launching a series of shotgun blows from Ember Celica at the man with the pole-axe. This gave Thor the chance to launch herself off of her tower of boxes, where she quickly knocked aside, and out, two grunts who were trying to assist their Lieutenant, before charging the Lightning wielder. As she ran at him she prepared her Semblance, and as she reached him, Thor quickly stowed her grenade launcher on her back, before catching the downward swing of his weapon between the palms of her hands. Thinking he had a chance, the man activated the Lightning Crystal in his weapon, only to be amazed as his opponent, far from being knocked out, seemed to get stronger, pushing him backwards even as electricity coursed over her body. Wrenching his weapon away, Thor flicked out her hidden blade, and plunged it into the mans' side, killing him instantly.

Spear, who was up against a single Lieutenant wielding a trident, was having a difficult time, due to their weapons similar nature, until Juggernaut, having worked her way over to him while Thor mopped up some grunts, leapt in with her saber drawn, knocking away the three-pronged weapon, letting Spear impale his opponent before activating his weapon's lightning crystal, killing the man instantly.

Glaive was also fighting alongside another assassin, Joanar. The two team leaders were facing down three enemy Lieutenants, the scimitar wielder, a thin woman with a bayonetted assault rifle, and the third a young looking man with a pair of Chakram infused with his aura so they would always return to him. Though on the defensive, the pair of assassins held their ground, parrying the blows of their opponents with practiced skill. While the Lieutenant with the scimitars was in front, directly engaging Joanar, who was responding with sword and shield, the other Templars' stood back a little bit, using their ranged attacks to their advantage.

But Glaive would have none of that. Spinning his weapon in a highly unorthodox stance, he ignited the blade with the fire Dust crystal embedded in it, then he launched the blade on the end of its wire as he jumped to the side, slashing diagonally downwards with the staff that remained in his hands. Following his swing, the burning blade flew through the air, the first swing knocking away a chakram that was headed for Joanars' unprotected flank, the second swing scoring a light scratch on the female Lieutenants' right bicep, though the flames that cloaked the blade did elicit a shout from the injured party.

Seeing Glaive retracting his weapon for another strike, the Scimitar wielder ignited his own blades and slashed in an X at Joanar forcing him to block with his shield. In the split second Joanars' sight was blocked, his opponent leapt into the air and spun, slamming his foot into the raised shield, sending Joanar stumbling back a few steps. Seeing his chance, the Templar charged Glaive, slashing wildly with his weapons, as the latter was just preparing for his next swing.

Glaive was forced on the defensive, as the sword wielder was far too close for him to use his primary weapon, so he decided to switch to his secondary weapon. After bashing his attacker in the side with the blunt end of his pole weapon, which gave him a moment in which to act, Glaive tossed his weapon into the air, and pulled out a pistol from his belt, quickly firing off a few rounds at the swordsman, who was just recovering from the hit he took. One bullet, a lightning Dust round, managed to get past the defenses that repelled the other shots, and the shock it carried knocked the reciepient off his feet and into unconsciousness.

Turning back to the battle between Joanar and the other two Abstergo Lieutenants, Glaive was surprised to see that it was well under control, with the Chakram wielder having lost his range advantage to Joanar, then lost his throat to a quick horizontal slash. Joanar was now advancing on the rifle wielder with his shield up and his 'Harmony' pistol in the other hand. Deciding to leave that Templar to Joanar, Glaive returned to destroying Templar supplies.

Joanar had decided to deal with the 'rifle' Lieutenant with a deception tactic, making the woman think that he was getting close to use his sword against her, then, when her clip ran out, shooting her. Should be simple, right? Of course not.

When the woman's clip ran out, instead of changing it, like expected, the woman charged with her bayonet fixed, her rifle popping open and delivering an electric charge to the bayonet.

Cursing under his breath, Joanar started firing with Harmony, stunting the charge of his opponent, but only for a moment. Ducking behind crates, the woman continued to close the distance between herself and Joanar, occasionally popping up and taking a shot at him, though he easily caught them all on his shield.

Ducking into the stacks of crates himself, Joanar stowed his shield, and drew Peace with his left hand. The next time the Lieutenant popped up to take a potshot at him, she was surprised to find that he had disappeared, and she hesitated for just a fraction of a second, during which she was hit in the shoulder from behind with a fire Dust bullet. The impact and subsequent small blast sent her tumbling over the crate in front of her, dropping her weapon in the process.

Groaning, she couldn't do anything to resist as she saw Joanar come around the side of the crate she was sitting against. "I give." She groaned, praying to whoever was out there that she would be spared. She had only joined the Abstergo Corporation a few weeks ago, as a simple mercenary, and certainly wasn't so attached that she would die for them, like some of the others she had met.

Joanar knelt next to her, carefully looking her in the eye for a moment. A surreal feeling washed over the two of them, as others were fighting and dying around them, for a second it was just the two of them. Then Joanar nodded, holstering his pistols and pulling the woman's arm over his shoulders, supporting her out to the lobby of the warehouse. Setting her in a chair, he pulled out his scroll and sent a message to Reaper and Achilles' teams that he was coming out with a prisoner for interrogation.

Moving quickly towards the rally point, Joanar half led, half carried his prisoner to the hidden bullhead that was their escape route. Quickly he was joined by the rest of his comrades, who had finished wrapping up their fights and tying up their own opponents, those that survived the encounter, at least. Once everybody was on board, the tilt jet lifted off, headed back towards the secret entrance to the Assassin's lair hidden beneath Beacon.

 **A/N2: so, there's the new chapter. Again, I'm sorry it took so long. Also, as ever, I own nothing, all rights go to their respective owners. Thanks for reading, please review, and stay tuned for the next chapter! Gajeel out!**


	13. Author's Apology

Hey guys, this isn't a long over-due chapter, and for that I'm sorry. I have, honestly, forgotten where i was going with this story, so I would like to put it up for adoption. If you would like to take over this story please pm me. thanks, Gajeel of Iron.


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